President Protecting Our Elections and Standing Up to Russia

President Donald J. Trump is
Protecting Our Elections and Standing Up to Russia’s
Malign Activities

Issued on: July 17, 2018

PROTECTING AMERICAN ELECTIONS: President Donald
J. Trump and his Administration are defending the integrity
of our election system.

• From the beginning of
his Administration, President Trump has taken action to
defend our election system from meddling and
interference.

• In May 2017, President Trump signed an
Executive Order to strengthen and review the cybersecurity
of our Nation and its critical infrastructure.

o This has
included long-delayed modernization of our cyber security
systems across the Government.

• The Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) has taken the lead in working with
all 50 states, local governments, and private companies to
improve election security and integrity.

o Under
President Trump, DHS has increased coordination and
information sharing among all election partners, with nearly
1000 elections jurisdictions, including all 50 states,
participating in the Election Infrastructure Information
Sharing and Analysis Center.

o 34 States, 52 county or
local governments, and 5 election companies receive cyber
security scans from DHS, free of charge, on an ongoing
basis.

o DHS plans to provide on-site risk and
vulnerability assessments to all States that request.
Currently 18 States have requested this assessment and 16
are completed for the 2018 election cycle.

o A new pilot
program was launched to share information between State and
local officials and the Election Assistance Commission to
allow for rapid response on Election Day.

o During the
2017 elections, the Trump Administration provided on-site
cybersecurity support to States.

• In March of 2018,
Congress provided the Election Assistance Commission with
$380 million in funding for election assistance grants to
States.

• While increasing our election security, the
Trump Administration is also combatting actors that have
already attempted to harm our election integrity.

o In
March 2018, the Administration imposed sanctions against 16
Russian entities and individuals for their roles in Russian
interference in the 2016 Presidential
election.

CONFRONTING RUSSIAN INFLUENCE IN THE
UNITED STATES: President Trump has taken action to call out
and confront Russian efforts that undermine the United
States.

• In March 2018, President Trump
ordered the expulsion of 48 Russian intelligence officers
from the United States and ordered the closure of the
Russian consulate in Seattle, Washington.

o This action
was taken in coordination with American allies around the
world in response to Russia’s use of a military-grade
chemical weapon in the United Kingdom.

• In March 2018,
President Trump also expelled 12 Russian intelligence
officers from the Russian Mission to the United Nations in
New York for abusing their privilege of residence.

• In
September 2017, the Administration banned the use of
Kaspersky Labs software on United States Government
computers due to Kaspersky’s ties to Russian
intelligence.

• In March 2017, the Administration
charged 3 Russians for the 2014 Yahoo hack, including 2
officers of the Russian Federal Security Service
(FSB).

• The Trump Administration has maintained the
closure of 2 Russian compounds and the expulsion of 35
diplomats in response to Russian interference in the 2016
election.

REINFORCING A STRONG SANCTIONS REGIME ON
RUSSIA: The Administration has imposed the toughest
sanctions against Russia to confront its destabilizing
behavior.

• In
June 2018, President Trump’s Administration imposed
sanctions against 5 Russian entities and 3 Russian
individuals for enabling Russia’s military and
intelligence units to increase Russia’s offensive cyber
capabilities.

• In April 2018, the Administration
imposed sanctions against 7 Russian oligarchs and the 12
companies they own or control, 17 senior Russian government
officials, and a state-owned Russian weapons trading company
and a bank it owns.

o These sanctions ensure the Russian
oligarchs who profit from Russia’s destabilizing
activities face the consequences for doing so.

o The
sanctioned state-owned weapons trading company provides
military equipment and support to the Government of Syria,
enabling the regime’s continual attacks against Syrian
citizens.

• In February 2018, the Financial Crimes
Enforcement Network proposed a new rule to bar a Latvian
bank involved in illicit Russia-related activity from
opening or maintaining correspondent accounts in the United
States.

• In December 2017, new Russia-related sanctions
were announced under the Sergei Magnitsky and Global
Magnitsky programs.

• The Trump Administration sanctioned a total of
100 targets in response to Russia’s ongoing occupation of
Crimea and aggression in Eastern Ukraine.

• The Trump
Administration has also designated Russian actors under Iran
and North Korea sanctions authorities.

CONFRONTING
RUSSIAN AGGRESSION: The President is strengthening our
alliances and standing up to Russia’s malign influence
across the globe.

• The Trump Administration
released a National Security Strategy that makes clear that
Russia is undertaking actions that threaten our security and
outlines steps to stop their interference.

• The Trump
Administration has increased funding for the European
Deterrence Initiative, providing billions to increase United
States troop readiness in Europe, deter Russian aggression,
and help defend our NATO allies.

• The Trump
Administration has enhanced its support for Ukraine’s
Armed Forces to help Ukraine improve its ability to defend
itself.

• The Trump Administration is working to
pressure Russia back into compliance with the INF Treaty to
ensure that Russia does not gain strategic advantage from
its treaty
violations.

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